Journey to the Past
by Allanna Stone
Summary: Storybooke, Maine. A place where the impossible is known to happens. So when a mysterious young girl appears and arouses painful memories that Mr. Gold had pushed aside, everyone finds out a secret that the Dark One had hid for many, many years…
1. Chapter 1

**Journey to the Past**

**I do not own Once Upon a Time.**

**SUMMARY:**

**Storybooke, Maine. A place where the impossible is known to happens. So when a mysterious young girl appears and arouses painful memories that Mr. Gold had pushed aside, everyone finds out a secret that the Dark One had hid for many, many years…**

"Excuse me? I'm looking for Mr. Gold…"

Gold frowned as he stacked a book into the shelf behind his counter. "I am Mr. Gold, but I'm afraid the shop is closed…"

He turned and just about gave himself whiplash from the forceful double take.

Gold hobbled out from behind the counter and limped up to the young woman who stood in his shop, looking confident, yet uncomfortable.

She was stunningly beautiful, in a punky way. She was petite, with long dark brown-black curls that were streaked with pink, blue and purple, berry red rosebud shaped lips, a smattering of dark red freckles and sapphire blue eyes set into a heart shaped face of fair porcelain, a pierced septum, eight hoops in her left ear and three hoops in her right ear. She worn ripped darkwash skinny jeans, a bright turquoise mock neck crop top that showed off her belly button piercing and toned body, knee high leather boots, a leather jacket, and carried a satchel that bulged with who-knows-what.

"Melody?" he breathed, reaching out to touch her cheek, frowning when she flinched away from him. "Is it really you?"

"My name is Winter Sapphire, sir," she spoke up, interrupting his thoughts.

"I'm terribly sorry, dearie. It's just that… you remind me of someone," he apologized.

"No problem," she answered him, shrugging the satchel up further onto her shoulder. "I was told that you could keep me safe…"

"Oh, of course, dearie," he answered her, placing an arm over her shoulder and leading her towards the back of the shop, where Belle was reading. "Winter Sapphire? Such an unusual name…"

"My parents decided to name me after the season I was born to. The 'sapphire' part came with my eye color," she explained as Belle looked up. "Besides, I like it- it's unusual."

"Rumple, who is this?" she asked, standing and placing a bookmark into her book. She placed the book down onto the chair and crossed the room to greet the newcomer.

"Winter Sapphire," she introduced herself with a smile.

"Winter Sapphire, can I offer you something to drink?" asked Gold, inching towards the cupboard which held all his potions.

"No thank you, I'm fine," smiled the young child, removing her jacket and hanging it on her arm. Gold couldn't help but stare at the tattoos that decorated her body.

She had a total of five tattoos. A red rose on the inside of her right wrist. A bracelet of pnk roses on her left wrist. A snowflake tribal tattoo that covered her left shoulder. A sun and moon eclipsing on the right side of her neck. The words "Once Upon a Time…" on her right hip.

"Nice, aren't they?" smirked the girl upon sensing Gold's eyes on her. "They're all symbolic." She pointed to each tattoo as she explained the meaning behind each one. "Roses are my favorite flowers, I love the snow so a snowflake seemed appreciate. My boyfriend came up with the design- it too the tattoo artist three days to complete it. I found this deign in an old sketchbook, and so I now have this gorgeous sun and moon tattoo." She finally motioned down towards her hip. "This one was my first tattoo. I was obsessed with fairy tales and wanted something to remind me of my passion and youth."

"I see…" was all that Gold could say as he tore his eyes away from her markings.

"You said I reminded you of someone," stated Winter Sapphire suddenly. "Tell me who."

Belle looked up at her boyfriend as he took a painful breath of air.

"My daughter," he finally got out before turning and limping from the room as fast as he could.


	2. Chapter 2

**Journey to the Past**

**I do not own Once Upon a Time.**

**SUMMARY:**

**Storybooke, Maine. A place where the impossible is known to happens. So when a mysterious young girl appears and arouses painful memories that Mr. Gold had pushed aside, everyone finds out a secret that the Dark One had hid for many, many years…**

Belle and Winter Sapphire talked on and on about favorite books while Gold sat in deep thought.

The curse had been broken six months ago.

Why hadn't Melody responded?

He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by Belle and Winter Sapphire laughing over something.

"And then I called him a fobbing elf-skinned giglet!" laughed Winter Sapphire, tossing her head back as she loudly laughed over her tale. Gold chuckled at the story, which involved a beaver, a copy of Shakespeare's work, and a very idiotic ex-boyfriend.

"I hope your current boyfriend is a proper gentleman," commented Gold dryly as he limped over to the stove to make Winter Sapphire something to drink.

"Caleb is so sweet and kind and selfless and… he's everything I ever wanted!" sighed Winter Sapphire happily, getting a dreamy look on her face.

"What does he do for a living?" Gold asked her, pouring in some of the potion that would restore her true memories. He wasn't happy about his little girl having a boyfriend, but what could he really do about it?

"He's a handyman for this rich miser who lives in town," she shrugged. "It's good pay- that's why we moved- so that way he could walk to and from work and not ride his damned motorcycle everywhere."

Ah.

Now Gold knew who Caleb was.

Every morning, he would be awakened by the loud roar of a motorcycle that would pass by his shop. He even saw the boy around town, running errands for his boss. He was a strong young man of about eighteen or nineteen years of age, with curly dirty blonde hair, deep stormy grey eyes, and a kind aura that surrounded him. He usually wore jeans and a leather jacket, and was kind enough to buy sweets for the grocery store's daughter at one point. He looked like he would tear anyone's head off, but he was as kind as anyone. Gold also had a run in with him, when he tripped and fell onto his bad leg. The boy had helped him up and offered to help him home.

"I know who you're talking about," he said out loud, handing the tea to the girl, who smiled before looking at her watch and wincing.

"I'd better go; I promised Caleb that I would meet him at Granny's for lunch," she apologized, standing and turning to Belle. "I'll bring by those books I was telling you about, OK?" She then turned to Gold and smiled. "Thanks again."

Gold watched as she stepped out of the shop, the drink still in her hands.

"Rumple?"

He turned to face Belle, who was looking confused.

"You never told me you had a daughter," she tredded carefully.

"It's a rather long story," was all that he said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Journey to the Past**

**I do not own Once Upon a Time.**

**SUMMARY:**

**Storybooke, Maine. A place where the impossible is known to happens. So when a mysterious young girl appears and arouses painful memories that Mr. Gold had pushed aside, everyone finds out a secret that the Dark One had hid for many, many years…**

The following day, Gold found himself ambling down the street, wondering if Melody had returned.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a loud shout, followed by giggles. He looked up and felt his heart leap into his throat when he saw the young girl who had stepped into his shop the day before, fighting her boyfriend with a broom in place of an actual sword. The two were laughing and shouting as they horsed around.

And then…

She knocked his mop from his hand and held it up to his throat in an X, all the while smirking at him.

"Yield," she ordered him in a strong voice.

Gold was rocketed to a past he thought he would never see again.

_"You pig!"_

_ Rumpletilskin looked up in annoyance as his daughter's scream rang out from the courtyard. He stood and hobbled to the window to look out and see what had gotten her all worked up._

_ To his amusement, she was on top of one of the boys from town, beating him up as she shouted about him cheating._

_ Rumpletilskin chuckled as he watched her grab a fallen brach and chase him around, screeching for him to come back and fight her like a man._

Gold smiled as he recalled his daughter fearlessness; she even went as far as to enter the annual archery tournament one year and coming out as the victor.

She had stuck by his side, even after he became the Dark One, insisting that he was her daddy and that she loved him.

He watched her stand up on her tiptoes to ruffle her boyfriend's curls, smiling as he said something to her, which made her kiss him.

Gold frowned as he observed them.

The potion should had worked- what went wrong?

He frowned deeper when he noticed Winter Sapphire had a stack of books with her, tied up with a belt to keep them together. She spied him and jogged up to him, her face rosy and flushed with laughter.

"Mr. Gold!" she called out. "I was going to stop by sometime today and drop these off for Belle, but now that I'm more awake, I can tell that I won't have any time to do so. Would you mind acting as a messenger pigeon for me"

Gold couldn't say no to her bright eyes or winning smile, so he took the books. It wasn't until he had them in his arms that he felt something being slipped into his pocket. He turned his head only to see Winter Sapphire's hand retreating back nto her pocket as she ran back to her boyfriend.

Gold dropped the books off at his shop, where an overdelighted Belle happily thanked him for doing the deed. He then lowered himself into his chair and reached into his pocket for whatever Winter Butterfly gave him.

It was a piece of notebook paper.

It read:

_Whatever you put into my drink, whether it be sweetener or poison, I tossed it once I was out of eyesight. Be lucky that I haven't mentioned to Caleb about your little attempt to "whatever" me or else you'd be dead._


	4. Chapter 4

**Journey to the Past**

**I do not own Once Upon a Time.**

**SUMMARY:**

**Storybooke, Maine. A place where the impossible is known to happens. So when a mysterious young girl appears and arouses painful memories that Mr. Gold had pushed aside, everyone finds out a secret that the Dark One had hid for many, many years…**

Winter Sapphire could be found at the gym most mornings, boxing on a punching b ag. Gold used this information to his advantage and sent Belle over one day with a hot chocolate.

"Hey," Belle called out, handing the drink over with a warm smile.

"Hey yourself," sassed Winter Sapphire, taking a sip.

"How are you doing? It's been a while," Belle pointed out. The two bookworms had bonded over their love for books and often times swapped novels to read.

"Yes, it has been," smiled the seventeen year old girl, taking another sip. "What do you think of _The Chipped Teacup Mystery_?"

The two began to talk books as Winter Sapphire peeled off her bandages with her teeth and jammed them into her bag before trotting out the door, still chatting with Belle.

"Hold up…"

Belle stopped and watched as Winter Sapphire dropped her now empty cup.

"Belle? Is Gold my father?" she asked carefully.

Belle sniffled and smiled. "Yes."

"The Dark One is my father…" muttered Melody, her memories coming back. "And Caleb is one of the village boys I used to play with when I was just a little girl!" She chuckled. "I would taunt the village boys and call them pansies for not wanting to play in the Dark One's courtyard. We were never caught…"

Melody suddenly snapped herself back to attention, smiling an apology to Belle.

"Come on- I'd like to get some of that potion into Caleb," she called out before breaking out into a sprint with Belle on her heels.

~xoXox~

Gold was waiting in his shop when Melody burst in, her curls a mess and cheeks flushed from running across town.

"Papa!" she shouted happily. Gold's heart jumped as she raced over to hug him. "Do you have any more of what you gave me? I need to bring Caleb's memories back to him!"

"Rumple!"

Gold looked up as Belle burts into the shop, bent over and wheezing.

"You're fast for someone your size," she gasped, clutching her sides as her breath came out in short bursts.

"One at a time, please!" chuckled Gold, his arm around Melody. "Melody, what's that you were saying about Caleb?"

"He needs whatever Belle gave me- he's one of the boys I would play wit in the courtyard- you remember him, don't you, papa? Tall and skinny like a beanpole…"

Of course, Gold remembered him. He couldn't ever forget the boy who rescued his sweet Melody from an unnamed beast who Rumpletilskin had ordered to never come around his castle. Of course, the beast had disobeyed his wishes and gone after the one thing he truly loved and cherished. Rumpletilskin had been ready to kill it when suddenly Caleb stabbed it in the back with his father's hunting knife. Caleb had been the only village boy brave enough to risk his life for the strange girl who frequently visited the village for food and herbs that couldn't be grown. After she thanked him, she kissed his cheek.

Rumpletilskin hadn't been pleased about his young daughter kissing the lad, but what could he do about it?


End file.
